John Thomson was born June 14th 1837, in Edinburgh, Scotland. After his schooling in the early 1850s he completed his photographic apprenticeship around 1858.

Thomson first travelled to Asia in 1862 where he set up a professional photographic studio. The local culture and the people of Asia fascinated him, and in 1868 he made his second trip, this time settling in Hong Kong. Between 1868 and 1872, Thomson made extensive trips to Guangdong, Fujian, Beijing, China's northeast and down the Yangtse River, covering nearly 5000 miles. This catalogue is drawn from his time in these regions. These were the early days of photography when negatives were made on glass plates that had to be coated with emulsion before the exposure was made. A huge amount of cumbersome equipment had to be carried from place to place and with perseverance, great energy and stamina, Thomson managed to take a wide variety of images and themes, including landscapes, people, and architecture, domestic and street scenes. As a foreigner, his ability to gain access to photograph women is also remarkable. In China, Thomson excelled as a photographer in quality, depth and breadth, and in artistic sensibility. Thomson is the author of several books including:

The Antiquities of Cambodia (1867),

Foochow and the River Min (1873),

Illustrations of China and its people (1873),

Street life in London (1878)

Through China with a Camera (1898).

In 1881 he was appointed photographer to the British Royal Family by Queen Victoria. After retiring from his commercial studio in 1910, Thomson spent most of his time back in Edinburgh. In October 1921, Thomson died of a heart attack.

French text, a selection of photo's from Thomson's "Illustrations of China and its people".

The newly invented medium of photography played an important role in creating and disseminating an image of the East. To armchair travellers at home, photographs provided an wonderful way of viewing far away places such as China. The most famous photographer was John Thompson, who produced his monumental "Illustrations of China and Its People" in 1873.

'China Thompson' was one of the names used for John Thompson, born in Edinburgh who was one of the first photographers to travel extensively in China, taking some superb images of the people and landscape. He also covered most of the other countries of the Far East, before returning to live in London."

PAISARN PIEMMETTAWAT, SIAM Through the lens of John Thomson 1865-66. Including Angkor and Coastal China, Bangkok 2015.

Hard cover 29 x 29 cm. 148 pages with aroun 100 photographs.

" John Thomson (1837 – 1921) was a Scottish photographer who traveled to Siam in 1865 during the reign of King Rama IV. As stated in his biography, “unlike most photographers working in the Far East at that time, Thomson was not a government official, nor a missionary. He was a professional photographer who was fascinated by Asia and its people. Thomson possessed an open mind and was sensitive to the lives and surroundings of his subjects.” He was the first photographer to be commissioned to take photographs of the King and members of the royal family inside the Grand Palace."